The Role of Mental Health Professionals in the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. The User Manual Series.

Peterson, Marilyn Strachan; Urquiza, Anthony J.

This manual is intended to provide mental health professionals with the information needed in the evaluation and treatment of maltreated children and their families. An introductory chapter briefly considers the roles of the various mental health disciplines in child abuse intervention, including psychiatry, psychology, clinical social work, psychiatric nursing, counseling, art therapy, and child abuse intervention as a subspecialty. The next chapter looks at specific roles of the mental health professional in primary and secondary prevention, tertiary intervention, evaluation and treatment, and advocacy. Next the responsibilities of the mental health professional are delineated for such concerns as reporting child abuse and neglect, referring children for medical evaluations, and establishing quality assurance practices and standards. The chapter following is devoted to definitions of child abuse and neglect and covers operational definitions, incidence estimates, effects of child abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and assessing suicide risk. Mental health treatment issues and models discussed in the fifth chapter include intrafamilial child sexual abuse treatment, nonfamilial child sexual abuse treatment, self-help groups, and neglecting families intervention. The last chapter examines treatment modalities and covers procedures of the justice system, the therapeutic environment, confidentiality, and supervision. Attached are a glossary of terms and addresses of victim assistance programs. (Contains 30 references.) (DB)